Denis Papin

Denis Papin (1782-23 May 1810) was a colonel of France during the Napoleonic Wars.

Biography
Papin was born in Montreuil-sur-Mer in 1782, and he enlisted in the French Revolutionary Army in 1800 during the War of the Second Coalition. Papin was promoted to Colonel of a regiment of Fusiliers of Line in 1805 and he served in the War of the Third Coalition in 1805 and the War of the Fourth Coalition in 1806. Papin also took part in the invasion of Spain in 1808.

Papin was posted under the command of Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult during the campaign against the Spanish brigands of the countryside. In his campaigns in the Galician Ria regions, Papin took part in the suppression of Spanish liberal uprisings against the absolute monarchy that Napoleon put in control of Spain.

During the Battle of Ria de Cancha, Papin launched an assault on Spanish Fusiliers with his regiment of Fusiliers of Line, but during the charge he was shot by a musketball and mortally wounded. He died next to one of his fusilier infantrymen.